July 8, 2007 |
HAS the controversial author of "The Weather Makers," a hard-hitting international bestseller about global warming, turned away from stark findings to dash off a merry travelogue about his pursuit of those cute and funny Down-Under critters with the storybook name of kangaroo? Has mammalogist Tim Flannery decided to rest on his laurels? Not a chance. Flannery is a scientist of conscience and a man on a mission.
April 8, 2006 |
The causes and consequences of global warming are still debated. But few still dispute its existence. According to NASA, 2005 was the warmest year since the late 1800s. The next four warmest were 2004, 2003, 2002 and 1998. The last time the Earth was this warm, by many estimates, was 100,000 years ago. Scientists point to disturbing signs: The melting of glaciers and the polar ice caps. The migration of animals, worldwide, to higher, cooler altitudes.
March 19, 2006 |
IN 1998, an American Petroleum Institute memo ambitiously titled "Global Climate Science Communications Action Plan" envisioned a day when promoters of curbs on fossil fuel emissions will be seen as "out of touch with reality." "Victory will be achieved," advised the memo leaked to the New York Times, "when uncertainties in climate science become part of the conventional wisdom for average citizens."
December 25, 2005 |
TIM FLANNERY Scientist Global warming seems to elicit two polarized views. One points to portentous signs: the intensity of the hurricane seasons, the Amazon drought, the shrinking polar ice caps. The other sees an alarmist reaction to natural climatic cycles. To Australian scientist Tim Flannery, the time to act is now. If not, he argues in his new book, "The Weather Makers," the planet could face a global tipping point.
July 15, 2001 |
Near the end, in the quiet of a San Diego hospital room, the old man began to tremble. His muscles contracted with each wave of Alzheimer's-induced spasms. The tight restraints had left bruises up and down his arm, and the morphine machine whirred softly at his bedside. His breathing became heavy and irregular. That's when Tim Flannery began to play to his father for the final time.